Justice League - I got through the first hour and couldn't go on. Finally finished it. It's a mess. I don't really like these kind of films but the ones I do like are simply "a fun ride". There is nothing remotely fun about JL.

About to bang out Black Mirror Season 4 and go check out The Florida Project.

I've meaning to talk to you about The Big Sick cause I know you loved it. I need some help here cause all I had heard was how "realistic the dialog was" and I felt the exact opposite! The whole time I was thinking "nobody talks like this in real life!" For that reason I couldn't get into it at all and felt really weirded out because people keep saying it's realistic and it wasn't jiving with me at all. I know it's based on a true story or whatever, but to me, something like "All the Real Girls" is a much more "realistic dialog" driven romance.

Chaybee, i was coming here to talk about a couple of movies and here you are talking about all of them

The Florida Project: sweet movie. not sure i got into it. and the last minute is indeed problematic

Three Billboards: i really don't know what the movie is saying. and this is the kind of movies that i hate, the kind that doesn't end, but kinda stop before any normal ending

Blade Runner 2049: second viewing and i still don't like it. if anything i like it less than the first time. i think it's trying too much to be like the original, making it feel less genuine. but it's probably just me because my friend, who's usually very critical, loved it.

currently watching Black Mirror. good show, but i feel the subject i getting diluted and predictable.

Kunider, I feel you on Black Mirror. Only seen one ep of season 4 so far, but it doesn't feel special like it used to back when I blind-bought the DVDs of the first two seasons (with three episodes each) and was totally blown away. Season 3 wasn't that great (only a couple of eps I really liked) and neither was the season 4 opening.

Hey Chaybee! I'm going to echo something that is said below that I agree with, the story as a whole and individual performances are what I really responded to with The Big Sick.

There are also specific scenes I just love, whether they are completely honest or not, such as the "bag of devotion" scene. I feel like that scene plays out in a more honest way than most movies would show it. Sometimes you express these grand gestures and they just don't work like you'd hoped they would. That's one example of something I loved.

Also, everything Holly Hunter does is awesome and she gives maybe my favorite performance in any movie this year. She's just so genuine and believable as Emily's mother in portraying how a mother would likely act in this situation. I just love her.

Anyway, that's cool that you don't love it, and I don't need to change your mind on that, I just most certainly do. That being said, I ultimately liked The Shape of Water even more, haha.

@Luke: Saw "Dark" really liked it! Much better than that other mediocre show on Netflix that everyone seems to incorrectly compare it to.

@Daniel: Yes, it's WAAAAAAY too long for no reason.

@John: I completely dig that and I'm glad you responded to the performances and that it resonated with you. I'm still searching for insight into why so many people said the dialog felt "real" because it felt like a comedian wrote it (which is true) and it felt like overblown fantastical Hollywood writing for that genre.

I still need to see The Shape of Water to comment, though I don't really like Del Toro's finished products (I love his actual ideas though) so hoping for the best! Cheers man!

This is most definitely the most I've ever responded to a Del Toro film, and I can definitely articulate why with this one.

Again, the performances are excellent across the board, there's a nice balancing of a few different genres here, the creature effects are great, it's visually and emotionally beautiful, it harkens back to classic stories like Frankenstein and Beauty and the Beast, and I very much dig the "fairytale for misfits" thing it's got going on. I totally love it.

Please let me know what you think of it when you see it! I'd love to know your reaction!

Regarding Blade Runner, I was enthralled that the movie was patient enough to show someone walking down a hall, with absolutely no score, for a couple minutes. Maybe it was a little too much, but I really like how it stuck the pace and tone throughout the movie. It didn't feel long for me at all, so I'm curious how it will hold up on repeat viewings. Although, I saw it having not been to an actual cinema for several months, so I was perhaps merely overwhelmed by the largeness of sight and sound. Hopefully this isn't the case, and I enjoy it as much when I undoubtedly revisit it soon again.

You have confirmed my suspicion about the John Coltrane documentary, Chaybee. It is hard to make a good jazz documentary without going into details most casual viewers would not appreciate.

The best documentary about Coltrane is a radio documentary called Tell Me How Long Trane's Been Gone. I am not sure where you find it, but it was rebroadcast in certain places in honor of the 50th anniversary of his death.

Have you seen I CALLED HIM MORGAN, a recent documentary about Lee Morgan? It is worth checking out. It is on Netflix at the moment, at least in the US.

Trying to fit in the best of what I've missed this weekend. Saw Shape of Water yesterday. Really great, definitely one of the 5 best things I've seen all year. Nothing to say that hasn't already been said by everyone. It's everything it was hyped to be.

Then I caught The Big Sick on Prime this morning. Pretty good. I didn't respond to most of the humor, and don't recall laughing at all (in fact at one point I wondered if the joke was that Nanjiani was a bad comic, but that's not the case) but I REALLY responded to the story and performances. Kumail and Zoe had great chemistry and were likeable as fuck. The script was really crisp and inspired. If I did have a studio note, however, it would be to replace Bo Burnham and Aidy Bryant on screen with the 2001 monolith, and ADR over their lines with.....any other sound really.

It's hard for me to recommend anyone drive 90 mins to see anything. But, I don't think you'll be disappointed.

I also just caught up with Logan Lucky. Its... okay. I'm not sure why Soderburg would come out of retirement to make this, but okay. It does have a really goofy, out of place, distracting performance by Seth McFarlane in it tho, likely the worst performance I've seen all year. So there's that.

Agree with Seth McFarlane being completely unneeded distraction in Logan Lucky, I had hoped his initial scene would be the total of his role because it just seemed so hokey and meant to make people in the audience go "Oh, its the Family Guy guy" and be done with it -- but no, he was cast for a role with several scenes, all made worse with his bad accent unfun accent and bad unfun wig. Other than that I liked Logan Lucky well enough!

Do any of you read the comic books? I saw Asterix everywhere when I was in France. The comic- or bande dessinée- culture there was quite different from what I observed here in the States. I was not even aware of Tintin before then.

I grew up loving them. They were readily available in libraries (in English), and it wasn't until I was an adult I realized that they were originally in French. Same with Tintin. I was going to say Canadian libraries are awesome, but that (hopefully?) is true of most libraries.

well, i don't know for Canadians libraries in general, but Montreal's libraries are awesome because they sell both english and french comics. this is best in the used book stores because you can find some forgotten gems for cheap.

i grew up on the Asterix comics and animated movies. they were my favorites

I too grew up on Asterix and Tintin comics, my older brother owned most if not all of them (and my other older brother owned all of the Bond movies and other action stuff and comedies, so that's how I got into movies).

I'm curious too. I skipped the Tintin movie because I heard it wasn't good. I didn't even know there were Asterix movies. But apparently, Cleopatra is good? I'll honestly watch all of them. Can't be worse than The Emoji Movie that my kids wanted to re-watch yesterday.

Gerard Depardieux is excellent in the role of Obelix. in fact, everybody is pitch perfect in their roles. Depardieux ils the only one that stayed in his role for the other movies. all the others were new actors, and sometimes just moved around.

Like a few others it seems, I've been rushing to see 2017 releases before the end of the year.

MAYHEM - It's good, but I'm dissapointed I didn't respond to it like a lot of people. But it's at least worth watching for the two leads.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES - Liked it much more than most. Very entertaining and the performances are terrific!

AMERICAN MADE - Look, it's not a great movie, but the true story is so insane that I was fully invested. CRAZY story!

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN - The movie that it seems absolutely no one is talking about. I loved it. It's a predictable story we've seen before, but the music, singing, dancing, and production of the whole thing is AMAZING. It's such a grand spectacle exploding with energy and I had such a wonderful time! Zac Efron, I think, is the MVP and gives his best performance yet. It's also a rare modern musical where everyone can actually sing very well!

Took a break from watching the panoply of “award” films and watched Chopping Mall (1987). I think Patrick talked about this a few months back. Absolutely ridiculous and a ton of fun. Streaming on Amazon.

The Florida Project is an amazing example of how people respond to films. I am a condominium property manager and my wife is a 1st grade teacher. We were both like "yep - that's what I deal with! or "Yep, those are my kids!" during the movie. I think the perfect connection of relatability and how much fun we had with it, outweighs that's it's probably just an okay film. In both of my wife and I eyes, we'll cherish it and that's all that matters.

I haven't had any time to comment this week, but I've been listening in my car and reading all the articles, mostly at stoplights and while I psych myself up in the parking lot for more grocery runs. Thanks for the thoughtful and entertaining stuff, everyone! Happy New Year!

I've been totally reading your comments, Chaybee, about how you feel like you're in the boat all alone on the popular movies this year. Aww, that's the boat IM always in! Haha. I feel you. Except WW forever ;)Happy New Year to your fam!

Happy New Year to all of you! I am not unhappy to see 2017 slip into the past.

With a lot going on, it was one of those weeks of almost forcing myself to watch movies. Like the zombies of Dawn of the Dead (a 40th anniversary in 2018), I come back to the activities I am used to doing.

THE WINDOW (1949)- This a modest RKO production that, while being no masterpiece, is the kind of film I love discover. One gets a sense of life in a blue-collar New York City apartment building in the late 1940s. No air conditioning, mechanical refrigerators, washing machines, or televisions. This is an adaptation of what seems to be the same story that Rear Window is based on. On this occasion it is a young boy, sleeping on a fire escape during a hot summer night, who is the witness. There are some pleasantly suspenseful sequences, particularly the concluding chase, with noirish touches.

JEREMIAH TOWER: THE LAST MAGNIFICENT (2016)- A portrait of an influential chef who comes off as a talented jerk. There is no doubt, however, that Tower has lead an unusual life, which is the aspect of the doc that held my interest. Lots of talking heads in this, including its co-producer, Anthony Bourdain.

Sounds like things have been hectic, at best. Hope the new year is better for you! Love hearing your comments on stuff I've mostly never heard of. My goal is to watch more documentaries in the new year. It's something I rarely think of, but I nearly always enjoy them.

It has more to do with having a lot to think about than being busier than usual. 2017 brought many changes that I am still processing. I am also getting ready for another season of tax work. When my mind is occupied, I find documentaries much easier to watch than fiction films.

I have always been drawn to obscure subjects and the films of the past. FThisMovie! has helped to bring me more into what is happening now in movies, but I always seem to be looking back more than I look at the present.

Due to new weekend work hours, I haven't been commenting at all on weekend open threads, although I've been reading and loving all your thoughts! So many movie I wanted to share, but didn't find the time. Memories Of Murder was a highlight.

The last podcast, his Popeness suggested that we qualify bad movies we like with some justifications, so Baywatch! Ummm, not sure why, but I had a great time watching it. It was certainly a case of very low expectations. But I had a grin on my face the whole time. Good things: I appreciated how they emphasized the hot male bods being shown, in a movie you would expect to be all "female in bikinis". Also, the ridiculousness of lifeguards playing at being security/spies, was referenced, notably in scenes with the policeman. It played the line of acknowledging it, with making it into an obvious spoof.

And that's about it! But mostly I just had fun watching it, after hesitating a while hearing it wasn't very good. I was particularly disappointed to hear it's Patrick's worst movie of the year, considering The Handmaiden is my favorite movie that I saw this year. Our tastes aren't completely dissimilar!

I'm very much looking forward to rewatching The Handmaiden once the Bluray arrives, and I have very little hankering to watch Baywatch again, so maybe (just maybe), Patrick has better taste than me (he does).

It's pretty watchable (that sounds very faint praise after typing it). The only reason I mentioned it was because JB said it's not enough to say, "I enjoyed it". Even though his reason for liking (me might have backed down on this) Independence Day 2.0 was that he enjoyed watching it.

Worst big movie of the year? Sure. Worst movie of the year? I doubt it...

Saw ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD last night, and I think it's Ridley's best since.... I don't even know what. It's astounding and was a soul-crushing experience for me. So intense and sad. It's truly amazing.

Just got home from my 100th theatrical film of the year. Yeah, may have overdone it a bit.

Anyway, the movie I saw was On Body and Soul, a beautiful Hungarian film about two lonely and slightly odd people sort of connecting. It's very "European" in its style, it's quiet, slow, slyly funny and the mundanity of the characters' lives is beautifully shot.

I'll highly recommended it, though maybe not for the squeamish or the most fervent animal lovers, since the main characters work at a slaughterhouse and the movie doesn't exactly shy away from their work. There's actually a disclaimer at the end, saying (I'm paraphrasing) "Animals were harmed during the making of this movie, but not for the movie. We just documented the normal daily routine of a slaughterhouse."

The one sentence premise of the movie that's on IMDb and probably every review will lead with, only becomes clear well into the movie, so I'd recommend seeing this one without any prior knowledge if possible. I would think that would make it even better, even though I really liked the movie knowing it beforehand.

I looked it up on IMDB. What does it have to do with the Roman Porno films made by Nikkatsu? I am familiar with those. The films with Naomi Tani (FLOWER AND SNAKE, TATTOO FLOWER VASE), WATCHER IN THE ATTIC (1976), and the ANGEL GUTS films are interesting films from the Roman Porno productions.